


The Thick of It

by Luminovia



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Camping, College AU, Depression, Fluff, Hiking, Kissing, M/M, Smut, and maybe some - Freeform, but also not sure yet, but im not sure yet, forest, might be talk of, woods
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-08
Updated: 2018-03-08
Packaged: 2019-03-28 16:10:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13907616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luminovia/pseuds/Luminovia
Summary: The Voltron gang gets together in the summer of their college years for a camping trip to Oregon. Lance, having been roommates with Keith for the past two semesters, fell for him deeply. He struggles to identify these feelings, and this summer vacation tries his and Keith's friendship to its limits.





	1. Prologue

“No rain on the day we leave, huh? That's funny, considering last time…”

“Nature does what she wants, Hunk,” Lance replied, loading the last piece of luggage onto the somewhat-compact trailer. “Today, she decided to let us have our fun.”

Shiro started his truck, making sure one last time that the trailer was completely attached. Allura hopped into the passenger’s side. Keith, Lance, Hunk, and Pidge all piled into the trailer, testing out their walkie talkies before handing one to Shiro.

“Did everyone pee before we left? I'm not stopping for a while,” Shiro called out.

A unanimous “yes, DAD” echoed through the air.

“Alright! Road trip time, guys!”

With that, Shiro drove away. They all looked back one last time at their Seattle college before shouting in joy for their long summer break. Lance connected his phone to the bluetooth speaker he had brought along and selected the first track on his playlist for the summer - “Take A Walk” by Passion Pit. Keith watched his friends as they all got comfortable in their own little places. Soon enough, the city air no longer weighed them down, and they looked ahead toward a bright and fun road trip.


	2. Sleepless Nights

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: I incorporate all of my music tastes into my fics, sooooo... yep!

Lance’s eyes fluttered open while he was in his bed. He could tell that the trailer had stopped that night at some sort of trailer park. Apparently, he had slept most of the day, because the last time he was awake, there was still some sun. 

“Oh, well,” he thought, “Just some much-needed rest after the finals, I guess. Probably didn’t miss all that much anyway.”

Silently creeping out of his bed, he tip-toed over to the bathroom. He pulled his phone out and saw that it was almost three in the morning. Shrugging, he brushed his teeth and washed his face. Lance walked out of the bathroom and glanced quickly at Shiro on the floor in a sleeping bag while Pidge and Allura shared the pull-out couch.

Lance tried to remember when exactly Allura joined their crew. Keith and Shiro had already met before college and were friends in high school. Keith and Lance were randomly chosen as roommates, and became friends despite their constant bickering over chores. Lance met Pidge and Hunk in their astronomy class, and they worked on projects together. Shiro often invited Keith over, and strongly welcomed his new friends.

Allura met Shiro in their English class. They didn’t work in groups or even talk to each other in the beginning, so it took a few weeks before Allura worked up the courage to befriend anyone in the class, especially Shiro. She’d bonded with every member in the group in no time, and basically coordinated the group. 

Lance smiled at the thought of his close-knit friend group. He grabbed a Crunch ice cream bar out of the freezer, went outside, and climbed the ladder on the back of the trailer to the roof. He laid down on his back, being careful not to make much noise, and stared up towards the stars. Often he would suffer from insomnia, broken sleep, or some sort of irregular sleeping pattern, and would wake up in the early hours of the morning, only able to fall asleep at his desk doing homework. This time, there was no quadratic equations to help, so he simply starting counting stars and making up all sorts of math problems involving them. But the problems were too easy, and he wasn’t able to fall back asleep.

He could hear the gentle sounds of crickets chirping and frogs croaking and his steady breathing, all in somewhat rhythmic unison, but the white noise still couldn’t help. Pulling out his phone and earbuds, he put his “sleepy soundtrack” (which was comprised mostly of softer alternative rock or folk music) on shuffle and closed his eyes, taking one last peek at his phone, which told him it was already 4:30 in the morning.

The next few minutes dug into his subconscious mind, consisting of his dreams of holding Keith safely in his arms while they told each other the pretty features of their eyes, or the curve of their noses, or their curl of their lips…

Then Lance slept soundly until the sun rose and crept down his chocolatey hair, a golden strand glimmering among every few hundred others.


	3. Nostalgia

Keith woke up to the thumping of a vehicle on a highway. He sat up and realized the vehicle was moving, and it seemed like everyone else was already up and talking. Shiro had woken up during the early hours of the morning to drive so they would make it there on time, and the other four sat around the table that had empty plates with crumbs and scattered playing cards. They laughed at some joke Hunk made, but Keith just heard a buzz and saw a blur.

Keith was no morning person. Lance’s sleep schedule was so messed up that he was pretty much Keith’s only chance of getting up for his 8 AM class, so sleeping in was a luxury. Keith rubbed his eyes and got up to grab a seat up front next to Shiro, barely able to keep his balance as he swayed sleepily through the RV. 

“You know, Keith,” Allura exclaimed to him, “I may have royal ancestors, but you’re quite the queen of the mattress.”

The joke received laughter from everyone but Keith, who muttered a mocking “ha-ha-ha” in her general direction.

Shiro smiled at Keith, who grabbed the hat resting on the passenger’s seat and shielded it over his eyes. Keith peered out slightly to take in the sights. A lush green-ish blue swept across mountains and valleys in front of the vehicle, which drove on the mostly empty highway at a steady 65 miles per hour. The sky was pretty much clear and the sun patched through onto Keith’s skin, warming the parts to a moderate temperature. The shadows on the great forests surrounding them reminded him of the view from his dad’s house back in Washington.

A sense of nostalgia reminded Keith of the time when he and Shiro were kids, playing in the garden just outside Keith’s house. He would pick ripe strawberries and bring them inside to his dad, not without the noble delicious sacrifice of a few berries in the process. Meanwhile, Shiro always had the blackberries or the grapes off the vine. If they were lucky, they'd find a frog or two in the garden to play with.

Keith grinned warmly at the memory. His father always loved the garden and even taught Keith how to tend it. His father passed away at the beginning of high school for Keith, and he fell out of the gardening habit. Since then, Keith had been living with Shiro’s family.

“Shiroooooo,” Lance groaned, “Are we there yet?”

Shiro adjusted the rearview mirror to look at Lance. “Why do you guys always treat me like I'm a dad?”

Pidge piped up, “Shiro, you always make dad jokes. You're always driving us places. I think someone mistook you for my dad once.”

Hunk nodded vigorously in agreement, “You're pretty much the dad of this group, man.”

Shiro smiled. “Don't make me turn this car around!”

“Nope,” said Pidge, “Now you're trying too hard.”

Shiro huffed quietly and the rest of the group chuckled. “Well, we will be there in about an hour, so I suggest you guys actually change out of your pajamas,” Shiro added.

Keith plugged his headphones into his phone, turning on his randomized summer playlist, starting with “Sloppy Seconds” by Watsky.

They arrived at the campsite right on time.


	4. When Life Gives You Lemons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super long chapter. Enjoy!

The site was pretty much how they all imagined- a nice, big isolated spot, with big patches of lush grass and smaller parts of soft, powdery dirt. The site was surrounded by forest that seemed easily explorable. Next to the camp was a rather noticeable path that led to a wonderful viewpoint, where the majesty of Oregon could be seen through the deep and rich colors of the pine trees and the glistening of far away lakes and mountains that faded into the cerulean of the sky.

“Welp,” Lance called out, hopping off the final step of the RV and onto the dirt, “I gotta take a piss.” 

Hunk jumped out immediately after. “Ohhh- yep, mm-hmm. Me too. Yep,” he said, following Lance into the woods.

Allura stepped out next, rolling her eyes at Lance’s less-than-surprising vulgar attitude. She felt the sun poke through the trees and land on her clear, dark skin and through her wavy, fair hair. The freedom of shorts and a crop top really made her love summer even more.

Meanwhile, Keith, like a vampire, shielded himself from the sun and let it overheat his jet black hair and his similarly dark t-shirt, with a small graphic on the left pocket and the same larger version on the back that was the “My Chemical Romance” logo, and a pair of black jeans. 

Pidge, in her light green-and-white striped top and dark green pair of short overalls, glared judgingly at Keith’s top. Keith noticed.

“Stop judging! I’ve had this since high school, it just… still fits,” Keith mumbled, trying to defend himself through his past. Pidge just shrugged and smiled smugly, sending him a “you do you” look.

“Who wants lemonade??” Shiro pitched to the three- to which all three raised their hands.

“Okay, who wants to make lemonade?”

Silence.

“Alright, last two to say ‘not I’ have to make the lemonade,” Shiro said as Lance and Hunk returned. A simultaneous “not I” resonated from everyone but Hunk and Lance, who both looked puzzled at the sudden use of the phrase.

“Guess Lance and Hunk are making lemonade!” Pidge exclaimed, “Maybe you guys shouldn’t have ordered large sodas at literally every place we stopped.”

“Aw, whaaat…” Lance grumbled. Hunk just shrugged, and figured he probably knew how to make lemonade better than the rest of the group, so he went with the flow.

“Water and lemons are in the mini fridge,” Shiro said.

Lance and Hunk made their way into the camper, grabbing everything they needed.

“Hey, Lance,” Hunk said, “You don’t have to help if you don’t wanna, I know how to make the perfect lemonade! I’ll tell you if I need help.”

Lance beamed at Hunk. “Aw, sweet!” he exclaimed, sliding into the table and looking out the window.

Any thoughts he was thinking vanished suddenly as he gazed at Keith. Something about seeing Keith smile with his friends made Lance feel cheerful himself. Lance watched as his fluffy and messy pitch black hair shone in the sun, giving off an almost blue tint. He longingly stared at Keith’s bicep leaning back on a picnic table, the subtle shadows in it almost… mesmerising.

“Hey, Hunk?”

“Hm?” Hunk replied.

“You ever like someone? Like, super like?” Lance asked, his head still in the clouds.

“Huh? I mean…” Hunk said, looking up briefly from cutting up lemons, “There was this girl in high school…”

“You had a girlfriend and never told me?!” Lance piped up.

“No! I mean, not really. I liked her a lot and I think she felt the same way, but we met in our senior year. She was super cool and nice, and was never judgemental. She always thought my jokes were funny and whenever I felt upset, she would talk to me for hours. Then she decided to go to the east coast for college. I still talk to her everyday, though.” He sighed wistfully. “Man, I miss Shay…”

“Yeah,” Lance said, “That’s rough, buddy. Sounded like she was perfect for you…”

“Mm-hmm,” Hunk replied, “What about you?”

“I’ve had a girlfriend or two before, but…” Lance paused.

“But…?”

Lance just looked out the window again, no longer daydreaming. Instead, he stared at Keith with an almost pained expression. He crossed his arms on the table in front of him and laid his head there. 

He sighed. “Promise you won’t tell anyone? Not even Pidge?”

Hunk did the universal signs for zipping it, locking it, and putting it in your pocket.

Lance smiled weakly at that. “Alright… I really, really like Keith. I know it sounds silly. I know it sounds irrational, but... He’s so unlike anyone I’ve known before. I argue with him a lot, but I know a lot of those arguments are more like friendly competitions, y’know? When he laughs he’s so pretty and I just get so frustrated because I know he doesn’t feel the same way-”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa- never make assumptions like that, dude,” Hunk interrupted, “Part of the reason I never got to be with Shay was that I thought she only wanted to be friends. I know I don’t have as much experience with this, but I know at least that much. Also, it’s not irrational if that’s how you really feel.”

“Yeah… I guess you’re right,” Lance breathed out, “I’ve just… Never been in love like this before, I think. Usually, it’s the girls that fall for me, and I feel like they always like they like me too much and I can’t measure up, but for Keith it’s so different.”

“Lance,” Hunk said, continuing to cut the lemons, “You should tell him, and you shouldn’t wait. If you and Keith are meant to be, he should know and he should know soon.”

Lance was on the verge of somewhat comical tears. “Hunk… You’re such a good friend,” Lance said, jumping up to hug him.

“Aw, jeez,” Hunk replied, “Glad I could help!”

Lance slunk back to his seat, staring outside once more at the silkiness of Keith’s beautiful hair and his perfectly-shaped face. He let out a breath of relief, like a weight was lifted off of his shoulders. He let his eyes flutter shut as he whispered a name.

“Keith…”


End file.
